13:30 - Radials arrived. Everything appears to be in good condition despite a 6"x4" gash on the side of one of the boxes. The Radial inside box 1 is fine. Didn't have time to get into box 2 before having to leave for work.

Talk about well packed!! :) The Radials were held securely in place in a plywood frame with wooden panels to and bottom to protect them. Took about 45mins to unscrew the frame to get to the Radial inside. Broke the tip of my screwdriver!! frustration! Just bought another screwdriver and will un do the other speaker when I get home tonight..

Ditto on the call in sick idea, of all the times to not take a sick day :-/ lol. Well so far the review sounds good, they are packed so well you broke the tip of your screwdriver trying to unpack them ( and that really is a good thing ).. Hope the other one is ok and congrats on their arrival. Dave

I am posting for the first time. Been watching Giorgino's posts and waiting to see if anyone else who recently bought was going to start posting.

Bought a pair of rl-3s direct from Bob Ziegler in Mesa and picked them up two Friday's ago from his house. I live in Tucson two hours away. Sorry Giorgino.

I was able to hear before purchasing so I knew what I was buying. However, I waited six long weeks from hearing them for them to be made and I can say it was worth the wait.

I was missing not having boxes, although I also like not having to store them too, and was thinking about calling Decware to send me boxes in case of a possible move and well I guess I paid for them since I got no discount. However, after just reading Georgino's post as to the one crate, sounds like they would not be re-usable anyway. Let us know if they are. I look forward to your first impressions of the speaker.

The speaker crates for the RL3's can be re-used - they are designed that way. And they are simple to unpack - just turn the crate up-side down - remove all of the screws on bottom and sides; turn the crate over and just lift up - the crate will easily come off.

Got home at midnight and started going for the box. Spoke to Bob (Ziggy) and established that stupid me had got the wrong headed screw driver. :o (Shows how much home repairs I do. Just don't let me work on your house...). The irony is that I showed the screw to the hardware shop assitant and she gave me the screwdriver!! Anyway, decided that enough was enough and proceeded to use a saw on the external protection frame. Sorted in about 5 minutes. Easy peesy lemon squeezy...

The RL3s arrived in perfect condition despite the gouge on the cardboard packing. Workmanship is excellent. Top notch! My buddy visited today and confirmed this. He was surprised to hear that that Bob made everything and it wasn't factory machined...

They sound big. There is an air of authority about the RL3s. The soundstage is big and deep. They have a laid back lets you relax into to music. At first I thought that they sounded slightly recessed but on reflection, and like my Ack dAck, they pull and spread the soundtage depth further back whilst holding the frontstage where it is.

Piano and bass sound very full and and fleshed out. I was expecting the precision to be compromised with a multiway driver but this hasn't been massively noticable. The treble is lovely and smooth - again, unexpected with a tweeter. It sounds very "grown up" . The sensation is the difference between being in a small nippy car and then driving in an executive car. There is a sense of solidity and control.

FIRST IMPRESSION - NEGATIVE

There is some very deep bass going on but it sounds a little strange. Every now and again a deep bass note comes out of nowhere that I'm sure instrument that was part of. It sounds slight diembodied and unruly. Almost like a subwoofer with the volume turned up. My buddy confirmed this when he visited me today. Whilst my interpretation was that the RL3 over emphasied the sub bass (below 80hz), he was of the opinion that the sub bass was fine but there was no bridge between that and the mid/upper bass (ie a dip between 80 - 120hz?)

These are early days yet and it may be due to placement and setup issues. Will keep you posted in due course...

INTERESTING POINTS

IMHO, I think that my 17'x11'x8' (L,W,H) should be considered to be the minimum size for the RL3 to work effectively for the following reasons:1) The need space to breath (minimum 2' away from walls)2) Sitting nearfield gives a strange sensation of the sounds being separated. I am sitting about 10' from them now but I suspect I would benefit from being another 5 - 10' further back.3) Sufficient space for the bass notes to work in. (I think I'll need need some room bass treatment)

In my 3 years experience with the Horns, I've set them up to a sound that I really enjoy. My guess is that I'll be spending the next few months optimising my setup for the RL3s.

An example is with the CSP preamp. The Horns/F1/ack dAck/CSP combinations sounds a little strident. Replacing the CSP with a passive NOS carbon pot preamp made the system really mysical and relaxed. This combo with the RL3 just sounded too recessed. Putting back the CSP brought out the sparkle and life in the system. It gave the system a little PRAT into the system without the edginess I got previously. Who knew...? ;)